Rants

I arrived in New Zealand to rain and cool temperatures on the 1st of April. I was lucky enough to get an amazing homestay family right in New Plymouth, but that is were my luck ended. I woke up the first morning feeling sick as a dog. After calling Heidi to let her know that I caught the bug too, I decided to rest up and try to get better in time for Sunday’s race. Again my great homestay family helped get me everything I needed to recover. By Thursday, Heidi still wasn’t feeling any better either so we both ended up getting antibiotics from the doctor that she was staying with. As soon as I started the antibiotics I felt immediately better; the congestion in my sinuses was still bad but at least the body aches and sore throat weren’t as bad. By Saturday, I was starting to feel better but when I tried to do any hard workouts I wasn’t feeling quite myself just weak and tired. The next day, race day, I woke up feeling not so great and considered skipping the race since I was already high enough in points to race the Olympic Trials. After calling home and breaking down in tears when I couldn‘t get Siri on the phone, I was a mess, I decided to just start the race and stop if I started to really feel much worse.During my warm-up I felt okay and started to be a bit more optimistic. However, as soon as the swim started things went downhill. The effort required to swim was taking so much more out of me than normal. My arms and legs were sluggish but my heart rate was ticking right along at a high rate. When we exited the swim after the first lap, I was exhausted and wanted to stop right there but decided to focus and actually had a good second lap. Exiting the swim, I was down on the leaders but in a good position to get into the lead pack by the 2nd lap of the bike. During the first lap of the bike, I coalesced around a great group including Lisa Huthaler from Austria and Lisa Norden from Sweden both great riders so I knew we‘d get that front pack very quickly. During the first lap on a short but steep descent, I was following Lisa Huthaler’s line as she pulled abreast of her teammate Kate Allen. Then I remember being shocked as Lisa veered quickly into Kate and away; Lisa’s back wheel hit Kate’s front wheel. I saw Kate wobbling out of control but didn’t have any time to react as she crashed directly in front of me; we were both going well over 35 mph. I don’t remember much of what followed except that the left side of my head hit the pavement very hard....

An oil spill in the SF bay made the Treasure Island race into a duathlon. It was my first ever and hopefully my last. The race showed me that I still have many more improvements to make on my running speed and fitness. I started out the first run well but faded after the first half mile. As a result, I ended up in no-mans land. I was forced to ride the entire 40 K on my own, which is not ideal for a drafting race but preferred to staying with a pack that expects me to do all the work. In the future, I’d like to go back and race Treasure Island on the real course when we are able to swim as well as run and bike. On the plus side, the trip was a very fun. Jeff was able to take some time off and come with me. We stayed with friends and had a nice time enjoying Marin county for a few days after the race. It is such an amazing place to ride and run; I look forward to visiting again...

I headed to Rhodes Greece for my next race and was very excited for the chance to race healthy after my bad luck at the world cups in July. Unfortunately, the bad luck continued and followed me to Greece. Rhodes city was an amazing location to race. The old city is very historic with the walled city and gates still standing from early BC. To race in such a scenic and historic location was awe-inspiring. And the Mediterranean sea was so clear and salty.On race day, I had a good swim and exited the water with the leaders. But once on the bike, in the first 800 meters I heard an audible pop from my bike tire. I looked down to see a flat. I rode on it to the neutral wheel stop and asked for a 10 speed shimano cassette for my new back wheel. I was given a nine speed and got on my bike as fast as possible but the lead pack was gone and I was now in no man’s land. I rode steady with the second pack for several laps until the cassette locked up between gears on the hill. I just barely avoided crashing and had to ride backwards down the hill to the wheel stop. This time I was given a 10 speed cassette but the 2nd pack didn’t wait for me. I was now riding in the third pack and frustrated with the bad luck and my chances of a top finish as I would be starting the run well out of contention after losing about 7 minutes with my wheel stops. I pulled out of the race on the run; it was the first time that I have voluntarily pulled out of a race and I hope to never do it again. I think in retrospect it would have been better to finish but at the time I was too defeated and mentally out of the game after my unlucky...

I arrived home from Salford on Monday night and was back training on Tuesday bright and early 5am! On Wednesday, our team had an open water swim practice in the boulder res. At the end of our session we were doing a final warm down loop as a group. Swimming along in the pack with a lifeguard watching on his jet ski, I was hit by a sailboat. The experience was very traumatic since I was hit hard twice by the centerboard and rudder and had no idea what was happening to me. The pain was excruciating. I had severe bleeding into my quad and another hematoma. I was very upset with my luck as well as the irresponsible behavior or the boulder res lifeguard and the sailboat operators. This accident cost me where I need it most; I lost another week of run training. And with a continental cup planned for 10 days from the accident I was left unsure of my race schedule. I decided at the last minute to race at the Longmont continental cup and with the decision being so last-minute my taper was only 2...

The first two weeks of training camp are almost over. It’s been a great start to the season. Though I am a bit worn out, I look forward to working even harder in the next few weeks. I know everything I do now will pay off during the racing season. Some of the highlights thus far were our team outing to Surfers’ Paradise after our long ride on Sunday. The waves were amazing, and it was fun to play around in the surf with my training partners. And our long ride through the hills west of the coast was gorgeous with some challenging climbs to rival those in Boulder. One part of the descent was so steep it felt like my handlebars were pointing straight down the bumpy chip seal road, and my sweaty hands were gripping the bars so tightly that I was afraid my arms would cramp. It was a little scary but needless to say I survived. Another highlight was our team BBQ at our apartment complex last week; it was nice to unwind with some good food and great friends. Finally, getting the opportunity to ride in a local cycling crit the last two weekends has been a fun experience and definitely is helping to improve my pack riding not to mention cornering and sprints since each loop of the course includes a 360 degree turnaround. Not to many lows, mostly just a few miserable workouts that I suffered through painfully and was relieved to forget about as soon as the session ended. And missing Jeff, my parents, and friends in Colorado. I didn’t think I would get homesick at 29, but I was wrong. It’s been a bit of culture shock with all the changes this past month from quitting my job and moving to flying down here and really becoming a full-time athlete. The last low light I hate to complain about with friends and family freezing at home but it’s really hot here….so hot in our little room that Mary bought an XL fan to help cool us off and even that hasn’t helped much. I am attaching some pictures from the Gold Coast in Australia. These were taken by an expert photographer and my teammate, Mary, just across the street from our apartment complex. On another note, my favorite triathlete, chef, asst. coach, and support crew leader just set up a blog, Stories from the Sidelines.Well that’s all the news for now….signing off from down...

I am officially unemployed!Kind of crazy…luckily I haven’t gotten bored yet. Actually, the last two days have been a whirlwind of tedious errands and appointments…and today’s highlight 4 shots at the doctor’s office. The shots were to prepare for a continental cup race I am planning to do in Thailand, a remote area of Thailand on the Laos border. Hopefully the shots along with the malaria pills will protect me from typhoid, polio, malaria, and any other diseases. If not, I guess I’m SOL. The CDC also had a warning about any exposure to fresh water due to Schistosomiasis, an incurable parasitic infection caused by infected snails that release large numbers of larvae (mmm…) that can permeate any mucous membrane exposed to the water…. does that include the Mekong River where I’ll be swimming for the race? Could I swim in a full-body dry suit? Maybe a few ITU points aren’t worth it.On another note, the shots in the arms certainly did not help my swimming tonight. It was a pitiful sight, but at least I didn’t drown in the pool. Our coach, Siri, warned us that once we get to Australia, she’s gonna really put the hurt on us. I kind of though I was already feeling it, but I am sure all my definitions of pain and suffering are soon to be rewritten.One of my other big tasks for this week is packing up for the big move this weekend. A big shout out to my FCC, Jeff, who will be helping to supervise the loading of my 10 ft, not 10 inch as the Budget rental agent clarified for me, moving tuck. It’s funny, I started packing in January and did a great job for the first few days but haven’t made much, or any, progress since oh about January 6th. Maybe I’ll get back to it now or maybe wait till Friday night. Who doesn’t work well under pressure?Well, the boxes are calling or is that MTV with another bad reality...